Cognitive Neuroscience Overview

Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience

As a subfield of neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience can determine how the brain works and achieves performance. Combining the biological science and behavioral science, cognitive neuroscience focuses on the biological processes research that underlies human cognition, especially the relationship between brain structure, activity, and cognitive functions. There are two conceptual domains for brain-behavior relationships which include functional specialization and functional integration. The functional specialization means that functional modules in areas of the cerebral cortex are specialized for a specific cognitive process, while the functional integration represents those cognitive processes may be the result of interactions between networks of brain regions.

Importance and Applications of Cognitive Neuroscience

With the ability to identify and mark deficiencies within neural systems for various psychiatry and neurodegenerative disorders, cognitive neuroscience plays an important role in preclinical and clinical research. From low-level learning and decision-making mechanisms to high-level planning and logic, from neural circuits to modular brain organization, it covers many levels of analysis. Some studies have shown that dopamine is the neurotransmitter related to satisfaction, brain function, and decision-making. In humans, decisions are made to benefit them to survive.

Topic Areas of Cognitive Neuroscience Study

• Attention
• Change blindness
• Consciousness
• Decision-making
• Learning
• Memory
• Language
• Mirror neurons
• Perception
• Social cognition
• Emotions

Research Methods for Cognitive Neuroscience

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging
• Electroencephalography
• Magnetoencephalography
• Electrocorticography
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
• Computational Modeling

Prizes for Cognitive Neuroscience

The Goldman-Rakic Award is established to recognize outstanding achievements in the field of cognitive neuroscience, the past prizewinners include Alan S. Brown, M.D., M.P.H (2019), John J. McGrath M.D., Ph.D. (2019), Anissa Abi-Dargham, M.D (2018), Schahram Akbarian, M.D., Ph.D. (2018), etc. The George A. Miller prize in cognitive neuroscience was established in 1995 by the cognitive neuroscience society and the previous winners include Nancy Kanwisher, Ph.D. (2020), Earl K. Miller, Ph.D. (2019), Elizabeth Spelke, Ph.D. (2018), Dr. David Van Essen, Ph.D. (2017), etc.

Current Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience

In recent years, developmental cognitive neuroscience has become a hot topic that links brain development with cognitive, social, and emotional changes. The development of non-invasive functional neuroimaging techniques and associated data analysis methods have greatly improved cognitive neuroscience research.

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